All power and technically unsound; a five in a scale of 10, he says
LAS VEGAS — Mexican Erik Morales has little respect of Manny Pacquiao’s boxing skills and plans to unravel this weakness when they clash again on Saturday evening (Sunday morning in Manila) at the Thomas and Mack Center here.
“Pacquiao relies too much on his power and is not really technically sound. If I were to rate his skills, it’s five (in a scale of 10),” said Morales during the well-attended press conference at the Mouton Ballroom of the Wynn Resort and Casino Wednesday.
Morales’ latest tirade is expected to add spice to the scheduled 12-round bout, a rematch of their epic bout last year won by the Mexican icon, known worldwide as “El Terrible.”
“Pacquiao doesn’t know what to do when somebody backs him up and I plan to do that in the rematch,” promised Morales.
Coming off a sensational defeat to Zahir Raheem late last year, Morales is aching to disprove critics.
“I am going to prove that I still have a long way to go,” Morales said. “We still have a lot to give. We are ready physically and mentally for this fight.”
Fernando Beltran, Morales’ manager, said the road to success will be rough, but “Erik will take care of business Saturday night.”
So confident is Morales of a victory on Saturday night that he is being groomed to jump up in weight and campaign in the lightweight division by the end of the year.
Team Pacquiao, however, has a different scenario. It’s the 27-year-old former world flyweight and superbantamweight king who’s going to be in the spotlight, not the 29-year-old from Tijuana.
“Pacquiao wins by KO in the eighth round,” shouted Pacquiao promoter Gary Shaw. “This is a fight where both will carry the weight of their nation on their shoulders.”
“If Manny wins, it’s because he could do it. We know he can do it. This time, there’ll be no excuses,” said manager Shelly Finkel, who was joined on the dais by trainer Freddie Roach and the boxer’s Beverly Hill-based lawyers Keith Davidson and Nick Khan.
Pacquiao declined to say how the scheduled 12-rounder will end, but assured his followers that “expect a tough fight and a good show.”
